sleep in our archives, and be produced in years to come, when, perhaps, no competent witness of the events recorded will be alive to attest their accuracy or refute their errors.
On the other hand, we must, of course, avoid personal controversies, and scrupulously exclude from our pages all unpleasant personalities. By careless inadvertence on the part of the Secretary, in at least one instance, personalities have appeared in our Papers, which are to be deeply regretted, but which we do not think could be mended by allowing other personalities in reply. We shall be more careful in future. And it may be well to add that it is not only the right, but the duty of members of the Society, to make at any time suggestions to the Executive Committee as to the proper conduct of our affairs. We are honestly trying to do our best, and warmly appreciate the kind words of encouragement and approval which come from every quarter; but we not only lay no claim to infallibility, but are conscious of many mistakes, and will thankfully receive friendly criticism whenever our friends discover that we need it.
Mr. William H. Hardgrove, No. 19 Third Street, Louisville, Kentucky, is now our only authorized agent for that city. If there are persons there who have subscribed through other agents, and have not been receiving their papers, they will oblige us by communicating with this office. And, indeed, we would take it as a favor if subscribers everywhere would notify the Secretary of any delay, or irregularity in the receipt of their papers. We are always careful to mail to subscribers immediately on the receipt of their orders.
We have received a newspaper account of the recent reunion of Mahone's old brigade in Norfolk. It seems to have been a most enjoyable affair, and we deeply regretted that we could not accept an invitation to be present. We are glad to see that these reunions of different commands of Confederates are becoming more common, and we should be glad to have sent for our scrap-book accounts of them all. But we must beg the participants not to allow themselves to become so absorbed in the social features of these reunions as to forget to make provision for a record of their history. Let every brigade—every regiment—make up its record while the men who can give the facts are alive to do so. And we wish it to be most distinctly understood, that the Southern Historical Society is ready to co-operate most heartily with any of these organizations. We will afford their historians the fullest access to our archives, and we will cheerfully do anything in our power to assist them in supplying missing links in their history.
Our Confederate Roster, prepared by the skillful hand of Colonel Charles C. Jones, Jr., has excited a good deal of interest, and elicited wide
